


So How Does This Work?

by lelliiethesnake



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, M/M, Teen Angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-21
Updated: 2015-10-15
Packaged: 2018-04-05 12:43:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4180269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lelliiethesnake/pseuds/lelliiethesnake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hogwarts AU. Gavin finally makes it onto the Quidditch team with his best friends. But as the seven of them shape up to try and win Hufflepuff's first trophy in almost 20 years, feelings start to complicate matters.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Aaaaand last but not least, our second beater is the one and only Gavin Free!”

Geoff had always had a soft spot for Gavin, and as the Hufflepuff quidditch captain he couldn’t help but choose the skinny fifth year over the other candidate for second beater. Truthfully neither of them had been amazing players. Geoff would have preferred someone less clumsy than Gavin, but he supposed Hufflepuff was just dry on talent this year.

Gavin gave a whoop and punched the air, looking comic in Quidditch robes too large for him. Gavin was tall and slim and to get robes long enough he’d had to get ones that hung off his skinny frame. In that moment though the new beater didn’t care; he beamed at Geoff with wide eyes, hair ruffled and gravity defying from flying around the pitch.

“Alright you fucks, shower up and I’ll get some bevs from the kitchens. Celebratory drinks in the common room. Move.” Geoff ordered; a fondness in his voice for the team shabbily assembled in front of him.

Gavin grabbed his broom and fell in step behind the rest of his new team on the way up to the castle. Directly in front of him was his best friend and the other beater, Michael. Michael was deep in conversation with Lindsay, the new keeper. Lindsay was an old friend of Michael’s from back home. They’d known each other as small children and when Lindsay had disappeared off to secondary school without telling him Michael had been hurt and confused. Ten months later Michael had received a visit from a kindly old witch who sat his muggle parents down and explained that he’d be able to join Lindsay at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry the next year. 

Now here they were, Lindsay in sixth year, Michael in fifth, finally on the Hufflepuff quidditch team together. They were discussing something that happened over the summer involving people Gavin didn’t know, so he was happy to fall into step behind them and let them chat. They were only in the second week of term and lots of people were still catching up with summer gossip. He looked up at the September sunset on the way back up to the castle and let himself be happy, revelling in the feeling of having made it, finally, to the team.

When they reached the common room they all split off to their respective dorms to shower and change. Gavin followed Michael down the corridor and watched Ray go into the Fourth year boys’ dorm. Ray was the youngest player on the team but his talent was undeniable; he was quite possibly also the best player on the team, having made seeker in second year. Gavin became good friends with Ray the previous year when Michael had first become beater and they’d all started hanging out at quidditch socials.

Once he’d showered and changed Gavin, still with a smile on his face, made his way back to the dorm to put his broom and kit away. No doubt one day the excitement would wear off and he’d become as lazy with kit as he usually was cleaning up, but he was so excited about it he took his time to put his kit away properly, folding it neatly into his trunk.

After a moment Michael popped his head through the door to the dorm. “Hey Gavin, everyone else is done, you coming?” He asked, fondness in his voice.

Gavin gave him a large smile. “Yeah I am.”

Michael could see the excitement in his best friend. “Welcome to the team man, I’m so happy you’re here.” He walked over and pulled Gavin into a rough, bone crushing hug. “You’ve been hanging round with the team forever, now you’re officially one of us.”

When he pulled away Gavin was beaming, not bothering to curb his happiness around his closest friend. “Yeah man. This feels top!”

“Damn right it does. Let’s go drink!” Michael grabbed Gavin’s wrist and pulled him out the dorm and down the corridor. When they entered the common room a cheer went up and Gavin blushed. 

Michael punched the air and whooped and there was a general cry of “Well done!” and “Welcome to the team!”

Gavin squashed in next to Michael on the sofa, Ray on the other end. Across on the other sofa sat Geoff, Jack and Ryan. Lindsay was curled up on a beanbag in the middle.

“Well,” said Geoff, leaning forwards to the collection of snack foods and bottles on the table between them, “Everyone help yourselves.” He grabbed a bottle and opened it. “To our newest team members, Lindsay and Gavin!”

“Lindsay and Gavin!” the cry went round, and everybody helped themselves.

“Thank fuck we live next to the kitchens.” Geoff sighed, and everyone laughed. Geoff was notorious for being able to get his hands on alcohol and everybody knew it. He’d had reliable sources from third year, and he was in his final year now. Even Jack, who was head boy, turned a blind eye when his friend broke the rules because it always led to a good time. Geoff highly suspected Jack had been made head boy in an attempt to keep him in line, but it hadn’t changed anything.

“So how does it feel being on the team?” Geoff asked Lindsay and Gavin with a smile.

“Great, thanks Geoff.”

“Absolutely top.” 

“You won’t be enjoying it this much once winter practise starts.” Ryan commented. Lindsay laughed and Gavin just shrugged. Gavin liked Ryan, though he didn’t know him very well. Ryan was in his final year and doing some pretty advanced stuff, he’d always been one to keep his head down and get on with work, not socialising much out of practise itself. Gavin was really excited about being on the team and getting to know the guy better, everyone joked about him being crazy but he seemed really funny.

Conversation soon turned away from Quidditch and everyone relaxed. There was a very pleasant atmosphere in the air and the fire crackled and burned low as the evening progressed. The three seventh year boys chatted mostly, with Ray cracking hilarious one-liners in response and Michael and Lindsay listening and laughing along. Gavin laughed too, but mostly just sat quietly and let himself soak up the happiness and think oh wow I’m actually here and part of the team.

Pretty soon Gavin was falling asleep on the sofa, his head lulling to rest on Michael’s shoulder as his eyes fluttered closed. Michael just relaxed and let him stay there, giving as much of a shrug as he could without disturbing Gavin when the others gave him a questioning look. Once Michael began to feel tired himself and the group began to disband, he gently shook Gavin awake. 

“Sleepyhead. Oi. Time for bed you fuck.” He said bluntly, but for Michael it was downright affectionate. Gavin stretched and yawned before standing up, sleepily waving at the others who were disappearing off to bed.

Geoff came over and gave Gavin a hug. “Welcome to the team kid, I’m glad you’re here.” Gavin nodded sleepily and Geoff ruffled his hair and told him to go “the fuck to bed”. 

Gavin followed Michael down the corridor and into their dorm again before stripping down to boxers and climbing into bed. They only had one other guy in the dorm and he spent most of his time over in his girlfriend’s dorm, so the two of them were usually alone together and Gavin didn’t really care about changing in front of Michael. They were so comfortable around each other it didn’t matter. Once he settled down he looked over and saw Michael, now in bed, looking over and quietly watching him.

“I’m really happy you’re on the team.” Michael said quietly, and Gavin gave him a warm sleepy smile.

“Me too boi, me too.”


	2. Chapter 2

Quidditch made Gavin realised how happy he felt being able to do something he loved with people he loved. The team was so fun and practise never felt like a chore, even after weeks Gavin was still just as excited as ever to put his robes on and get out there. He had a good life, when he thought about it, and was content with where he was.

Quidditch also made Gavin realise just how much he had missed Michael over the summer. It had been a long one and despite the many Owls exchanged, nothing could match being with your best friend day in and day out. They spent most of their free time together, but with Gavin now playing quidditch there was a change from the previous year when most evenings Michael had been at practise and they’d been apart.

Spending so much time together made the pair click together like never before. They’d always followed each other’s thoughts better than anyone else, but on the pitch they were a seamless team. Gavin fucked up occasionally, dropping the ball or accidentally hitting it in the wrong direction, but they hardly needed to say a word to each other to know what each other was thinking, and for that chemistry Geoff was eternally grateful. It made up for Gavin’s lack of finesse tenfold and together he thought they made a pretty good team. In fact the whole team was looking so much better than Geoff had ever known it to be.

Four weeks before their first mid-November quidditch match against Gryffindor, they had their first training session in really bad weather. Ice cold rain, verging on sleet, and strong winds battered them on the pitch as they tried to keep formation. Michael swore loudly at how much he hated it and wanted to stop, but Geoff reminded everyone firmly that in his first ever match there were hail stones and he still played and won. He was also determined that they would win this match against Gryffindor, if only because his girlfriend Griffon was Gryffindor captain and he had a bet with half the school that he would win and not go easy on her.

By the time they got off the pitch and dragged themselves up to the castle Gavin was shivering violently. He was only thin and felt the cold badly, there was a reason he preferred hot weather. As he walked down towards their common room Michael looped an arm round his shoulders. “Struggling with the cold there dumbass?”

“N-no.” Gavin shivered out, but his teeth chattered on the word and Michael started laughing.

“Come on, a nice hot shower solves all. I know from experience.” He winked at Gavin and Gavin smiled, his cold red cheeks hiding his blush. Michael was very good at telling jokes that left Gavin feeling embarrassed and a little flushed, especially since he’d returned this year. But Michael’s jokes also made Gavin feel closer to him, like it was the two of them against the world, and Gavin loved that.

They picked up towels and a change of clothes from the dorm, reached the showers and both stripped down to their boxers, hanging up their muddy uniform before climbing into cubicles next to each other. As they undressed, Gavin realised Michael was staring at him. He looked up and Michael just commented “You’re really fucking muddy dude.”

Gavin looked down at himself and laughed, it was true. Mud was all up his ankles and calves from where his too-wide robes flapped up all the time. He also had mud all up his arms and could feel it over his face and neck too. He got into his cubicle, pulled the curtain across and took his boxers off, throwing them out onto the floor with his kit. He hung the towel and then turned the water on, shrieking when it came through too hot. Michael laughed at him from the stall next door, but then swore under his breath when he felt the water temperature. They were both far too cold to be able to cope with the normal temperature of the showers, but they stuck with it.

After cleaning himself thoroughly, making sure to get all the mud out of his hair, Gavin grabbed his towel and threw it round his waist, another towel roughly drying his hair as he walked over to the clothes he’d brought with him. He turned round when he heard Michael step out of his cubicle to find Michael had dried off and got dressed in there (like most students usually did). Michael saw Gavin and stopped dead, a blank look on his face. Gavin noticed he was starting to go red.

“Do you honestly have some sort of nudist fetish or some shit?” Michael asked, and his towelled friend frowned. 

“I’m not naked a lot.”

“You seem to be around me.” Michael shot back instantly.

“Yeah but you don’t count.” Gavin replied, and Michael raised his eyebrow. Gavin was still confused. Michael had never seemed bothered by him taking clothes off before. Besides, he never got like, fully naked in front of his best friend, only ever down to boxers.

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Michael replied, but it wasn’t angry, just confused and amused. 

Gavin frowned again, thinking about it. “I don’t know man. You’re my best mate, you’re my boi. I’m just comfortable round you I suppose.” He paused, before giving Michael a worried look. “I can stop if you don’t like it, I just kinda-“

“Nah man, whatever.” Michael cut him off quickly, keenly aware that Gavin would actually worry about it, he was that sort of guy. “I don’t care, I just noticed. Whatever floats your boat and all.”

“Alright.” Gavin replied, and dried off. 

They left in comfortable silence and went to sit in the common room together, sitting in their favourite armchairs by the fire and pulling out some readings they needed to do for homework. In the background various students milled around for the evening, Geoff was over in one corner with Griffon and Ray was over in another talking to another fourth year called Tina. After a while of both boys reading-textbooks-but-not-really Michael sighed and stood up.

“I’m going to go and chat with Lindsay.” He said and Gavin nodded an okay as he watched Michael go and sit with Lindsay in a secluded corner of the common room. After watching his boi sit down Gavin sighed and turned back to his textbook, determined to actually reach the end of this chapter by the end of the night. He was starting to notice work increasing as they approached OWLs and didn’t want to fall behind.

Michael fidgeted as he sat down. Lindsay could tell what was up immediately, she knew her oldest friend and about his recent, uh, issue.

“Intimate shower session?” She raised one eyebrow.

“Don’t even get me fucking started.” Michael muttered under his breath. “Oh god I’m in deep.”

“Michael, just breathe.” She said calmly and he almost laughed at the absurdity of the situation. “I don’t understand why you can’t just tell him how you feel.”

“But I don’t even understand how I fucking feel.” Michael shot back. “I’ve always loved the idiot but I get back from summer and suddenly he’s hot and now I don’t know if I actually like, love the idiot.”

Lindsay sighed. “Puberty certainly did work wonders on that boy over the summer.” They both glanced over at Gavin, his spikey hair silhouetted against the fire, his profile sharp. Gavin had always been lanky but over the summer he’d muscled up a lot, now fitting his figure perfectly. Gavin had talked in his letters about playing a lot of sport with his Muggle best friend, Dan, and oh god had it helped.

“I’m going to be a chubby unattractive fuck forever.” Michael muttered.

“Oh shut the fuck up Michael you’re not unattractive.” Lindsay replied. Michael sighed. 

“Thanks Lindsay.” He said, giving her a small smile to show he did appreciate the compliment. “But I am chubby though.”

“You’ve muscled up a lot over the summer too.” She observed and Michael shrugged. He had done, in truth, but he still had a layer of roundness on top. He supposed with some serious exercise he could work it off, but it didn’t come effortlessly. His muscles weren’t naturally subtly visible and sexy like Gavin’s had becom-

“Oh god.” He groaned and let his head hit the desk. Lindsay brought a hand up and patted his shoulder soothingly.

“I’m fucked.”


	3. Chapter 3

Hufflepuff always held a party after the Halloween feast; it was a centuries old tradition. Within the house it was famous, though it was a well-kept secret from the rest of the school. Anticipation built in the run up to the feast and as Gryffindors, Slytherins and Ravenclaws sat down to enjoy the delicious highlight of their night for the Hufflepuffs it was only just beginning. When it was finally time to leave the great hall and head back to the common room the Hufflepuffs were practically bounding off the walls, racing down the corridor.

Geoff had excused himself from the feast early and sure enough when the rest of the rabble got back the table by the fire was stacked high with Butterbeer. First to third years, deemed too young, were banned from the alcohol, given an hour to tire themselves out and then were sent to bed; though as it was already past midnight they couldn’t really complain. After they left there was a hushed anticipation from the rest of the years as second or third beers were opened and they settled down for games.

Firstly the cards came out. People gambled, as per tradition, for favours. People wrote things on paper like ‘Will do one potions essay for you’ and ‘Will fetch items from dorms for 1 week’. Geoff and Jack were excellent and had half the house promised to do their bidding by the end of the game. Ray owed Jack two weeks of washing his quidditch robes and Michael had to bring Geoff dinner three times, on days of Geoff’s choosing. Gavin knew his own gambling skills well enough to stay away and let the other’s play, simply laughing at Michael when he lost and receiving a playful “Shut up Gavin.”

Next people got settled into a game of “Never Have I Ever”. For the first few rounds, no one revealed much that others didn’t already know, though Geoff blushed through admitting his and Griffon’s sex life was kinkier than everyone initially realised. Then things got interesting.

“Never have I ever fantasised about a member of the same sex.” Ray proclaimed, and everyone looked round the circle with interest. Michael received a pointed look from Lindsay and took a long swig of beer. Gavin, to many people’s amusement, visibly took a moment to think. He obviously couldn’t remember whether he had or not. He looked up and saw Michael glancing at him as he drank and Gavin frowned, unaware Michael was anything other than 100% straight. He then shrugged and drank himself, knowing that his imagination had a tendency to run away with itself and that he’d probably imagined doing stuff with guys at some point.

Michael misunderstood completely. After swallowing the rising embarrassment he finally took a long drink at Lindsay’s request, eyes glancing nervously to Gavin. As he looked up Gavin glanced at him, gave an undecipherable, questioning look and then took a drink himself. Michael sat there trying not to panic. Had Gavin meant something with that look? Was he indicating he was aware of Michael’s confused feelings? Was he taking Michael’s drinking as a cue to admit he himself had had fantasies? Was Gavin admitting to fantasising about him? Michael’s mind was in overdrive, and he sat distracted for a long time until Geoff called for a change of game, aware that he was being stupid overanalysing things so much.

“Alright dickheads,” Geoff called, “Time to embrace our inner American teen.” A cheer went round as people realised what time it was. “If you join this circle don’t be a dick, count yourself temporarily single: It’s spin the bottle time!”

They all settled into the circle, nervous laughter from a few. Geoff spun the bottle first and landed on a sixth year girl called Morag. They shared a light kiss and leaned back, a light tittering occurred and a cheer came from one of Morag’s friends.

Next, two girls Gavin didn’t really know span and giggled their way through a light kiss. Then Lindsay spun Ray, and they both made a big show of being disgusted about the idea of having to kiss each other, complaining loudly about cooties. But eventually they gave a very dramatic small peck to each other and laughed it off with everyone else.

Then it was Gavin’s turn to spin. He leant forwards and first time completely failed to spin the bottle properly, hitting his knees with it and making everyone else laugh. Then, blushing slightly, the alcohol now visible in his gaze as he ran his fingers through his messy hair; he leant forwards on his knees and spun the bottle. It rotated for a long time, anticipation in the room increasing as everyone fell quiet, and then finally settled on one Michael Vincent Jones.

Gavin laughed and leant across without really thinking, from where he was sitting on the floor stretching his long thin frame out and almost crawling. Michael froze for a moment, his heart stuttering as Gavin slinked towards him and he thought about what he was about to do, but then Lindsay poked him in the side and he leant forwards, giving a chaste peck before shoving Gavin away by the shoulders. He blushed a little but shrugged it off as Gavin laughed, giving him a warm smile and urging the girl next to him to spin. He shot a stare at Lindsay (who was looking very smug), whilst refusing to acknowledge the warm, jittery feeling in his gut.

When the bottle got round to Michael he lent forwards easily, thinking hey, what’s the worst that could happen? And as the bottle rotated he found his heart in his throat as it landed, in retaliation, on one Gavin David Free.

Michael froze for a moment, and felt the hushed eyes of the circle on him as the first to spin the same person twice. It was Ray who spoke and broke the silence. “Are we playing spin again if repeat?” he asked.

Lindsay gave Michael a wicked look. “I think we should play to increase intimacy.” She called, and Michael gave her an evil glare. They all instinctively turned to Geoff and Jack for a decision, and after Geoff looked to Jack and then between Lindsay and Michael he turned to the rest of the circle.

“Increase intimacy. Up until 3 turns then repeat.” Both Gavin and Michael went red as Geoff announced “next step is make-out for 30 seconds. Pucker up boys!”

There was a silence in the room as Gavin and Michael looked at each other. Michael looked almost angry, like he was going to refuse, and Gavin just looked a little flushed and embarrassed. Neither of them volunteered to move first; until Ray pushed Gavin. He stood up, walked round the outside of the circle and sat down next to/slightly behind Michael. Michael twisted to face him, and both of them looked into each other’s embarrassed faces, trying to ignore the many faces watching with intent.

“Get on with it fuckheads, we haven’t got all night!” Geoff shouted and everyone burst out laughing. As they laughed and the attention in the room dissipated a little Michael seized the moment and moved forward, capturing Gavin’s lips in another kiss. 

They didn’t move much for the first couple of seconds, but then Gavin lost his balance and brought a hand up to the back of Michael’s neck to steady himself. They both took the opportunity to move their lips a little more, eyes closing, and the awkwardness fell away a little as they forgot their audience. After all, it was just a stupid meaningless kiss, right? Michael was definitely enjoying the kiss, despite the audience, and briefly wondered how long thirty seconds was before Gavin’s lips fell open a little inviting him to deepen the kiss. He took the chance almost immediately, aware that this was probably the only chance he’d get to make out with his incredibly hot best friend, determined to savour the moment. It was just a shame there was an audience, and he tried to keep his face from showing just how much he was loving every moment.

Gavin was, undeniably, a lightweight. A lightweight who’s brain didn’t usually bother working overtime in social situations and who had already had several drinks. He hadn’t really thought deeply about the implications of kissing his best friend, and as they’d started kissing all he had really thought was wow, okay, this is actually quite enjoyable. Thirty whole seconds of this wouldn’t be hard. He opened his lips a little with the idea of shuffling the position of his mouth, but when Michael took it as an invitation and deepened the kiss, he decided actually yeah that really didn’t exactly feel bad either. So he just let himself enjoy it. I mean, there’s no harm in enjoying a kiss, right? It felt extremely good, much better than Gavin had thought it would ever be. And Michael seemed to be enjoying it as least as much as he was.

It took an embarrassingly long time for the two of them to realise that their thirty seconds was long gone, and that they had been making out quite happily in the middle of the common room with a huge audience for well over a minute. Michael frowned and froze, and Gavin immediately realised and pulled away, they sheepishly looked round to see a ring of faces all watching them with a variety of expressions. Several people were staring with open mouths, or with raised eyebrows. Others just looked confused. Geoff gave Gavin an almost disapproving look.

It was Ray who broke the silence with a “Well it looks like these guys were enjoying themselves!” A laugh went round the room, and Gavin felt his ears burning with embarrassment. Michael also looked like he wanted the ground to swallow him up, ears burning, avoiding eye contact. Gavin went to sit back in his previous seat and when Geoff realised just how embarrassed Gavin felt he willed the game to continue, urging the next person to spin.

As Gavin sat there he felt light and really hot and realised holy shit, he was actually feeling quite turned on. He felt sexually aroused by intimacy with his best friend. Fuck. What did that even mean? Should it mean anything? Would it mean anything to Michael? His best friend was certainly looking a little flushed himself, he looked how Gavin felt. Gavin sat there debating how long he could get away with waiting to go to bed without it seeming suspicious, because after acting so senselessly he now needed to do some serious thinking. Michael lasted about five minutes before he excused himself to bed, claiming to be tired. Gavin knew he couldn’t follow immediately without it looking weird, so he waited another fifteen minutes before excusing himself, thankful that he wasn’t spun by anyone else on the bottle’s continued journey round the circle.

When he got into the dorm the light was out. Michael appeared to be asleep, but after listening to his breathing as he slept for five years Gavin knew Michael was only pretending. He didn’t push the issue though, changing and slipping into the bed and willing himself to fall asleep, which turned out to be harder than he’d hoped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to update this hopefully a lot more regularly once we get into August. I'm doing July's CampNaNoWriMo on another RT fanfic and it's confusing trying to write both at the same time. But hang on in there, I'll write the thing I promise.


	4. Chapter 4

 

Gavin didn’t usually struggle to fall asleep and yet he really didn’t sleep that night. Michael took a long time to fall asleep too, though Gavin outlasted him and heard the change in his breath as his best friend managed to slide into unconsciousness. Gavin was so thrown out by his own bodily reactions; it had come as a shock. He had actually felt turned on. And it wasn’t just because he was getting some action; he’d had kisses more intense than that with girls and not felt anything on this level. Yet here he was feeling all hot and bothered because of the guy sleeping one bed over.

 

Foremost in his mind was the fact it was _Michael_. He best friend who he cared for immensely, who meant an awful lot to him. The curly haired, slightly round, freckled, adorable ball of rage that he’d come to be so close with over the years. _Michael_. Had _turned him on_. Had left him with that familiar warm fire deep in his gut. And Gavin didn’t know how he felt about that. It wasn’t anything strongly positive or negative; it just seemed odd and confusing. It made sense to him that maybe the reason he had felt so turned on was because he had a strong emotional connection with the person he was kissing. But that connection wasn’t romantic, right? Could he be romantically attracted to Michael? He didn’t see himself wanting to be anyone’s boyfriend, and yet there was something about Michael that just left him feeling warm and safe. He had always assumed it was because they were such good friends, but was it?

 

Honestly, Gavin had never considered himself to be anything other than straight. It wasn’t that he found guys repulsive; he just hadn’t ever really considered the option. And yet… thinking back to the feeling of Michael pushing to deepen the kiss, leading Gavin’s movements and taking control, Gavin was undeniably horny. _I mean, it’s not like I want to have sex with him_. Gavin’s mind flooded with images of the possibilities, overwhelmed by the idea of sex with guys, and Michael in particular, as an option. _Fuck_ , he thought _, I am not in the mood for a sexual identity crisis._

 

Gavin rolled over, stubbornly ignoring his last train of thought, and willed himself to sleep.

 

* * *

 

 

When Gavin woke up, late, Michael was nowhere to be seen. Thank god it was a Saturday and he didn’t need to be anywhere until Quidditch practise that evening. He took his time to get up, go shower and wander down to breakfast, nodding at people he passed but not being very talkative. As he sat and ate his toast, Geoff wandered up and sat opposite him.

 

“How’s the head this morning?” Geoff asked with a smirk.

 

“Better than yours I suspect.” Gavin returned, and the groan Geoff gave in return was confirmation enough. “What time did you go to bed last night in the end?”

 

“About five I think. The party disbanded about half three but Griffon came over…” He smiled, and Gavin just shook his head.

 

“I don’t need the details.”

 

“I’m just glad our common room allows boys and girls in each other’s dorms. And other houses into our dorm.” Geoff said with a smile. And Gavin had to admit, it was a god-send.

 

“Yeah it’s great. I can’t believe other dorms aren’t as friendly.”

 

“Not that you seem to need that.”

 

“What do you mean?” Gavin frowned in genuine confusion.

 

Geoff gave Gavin’s confused face a disapproving look and sighed.  “Gavin it was a bit of a dick move leading Michael on like that.”

 

Gavin’s mouth fell open, wanting to protest but not really knowing what to say. Last night flooded back into his mind and he struggled to process that last phrase. After a moment of stuttering he came out with a “What?!”

 

Geoff looked him up and down contemplatively, concluding that Gavin actually hadn’t realised his best friend’s blindingly obvious affections. He did feel sorry for Gavin, though that didn’t lessen what had happened the night before.

 

“Jesus. You’re blind.” He said simply, but it wasn’t with malice.

 

“Geoff what the fuck do you mean? Lead him on?! I wasn’t leading anyone on! That would imply he actually had feelings for m-“ Gavin cut off mid-sentence, brain visibly ticking, realisation and confusion dancing on his face. He looked at Geoff and silently pleaded for answers.

 

“Well done.” Geoff laughed, and Gavin’s face burned red.

 

“Geoff this isn’t funny. What do you mean Michael fancies me? Since when? And why would that make last night unfair?”

 

“You’ve not been blind for too long, it’s a recent development.” Geoff admitted, “and you really got into that kiss last night. That’s just taunting him dude.”

 

Gavin gave a huff of frustration. “I didn’t even know he was gay!”

 

“Neither did he until very recently, which is why he’s currently on the quidditch pitch flying endless loops trying to sort his own head out.” Geoff sighed. “There’s not really anything you can do to fix this at the moment. The damage is done, just give him space. Hopefully this won’t affect the team.”

 

“But I don’t see why I even should be fixing it! I did nothing wrong! We had to kiss. You’re the twat that made the 30 second ruling!” Gavin’s voice was high and spluttering.

 

“I know but a seriously deep make-out session for over a minute? You didn’t have to use open mouths dude.” Geoff argued his case but his tone was sheepish, he clearly felt some guilt.

 

“We were both assuming someone would tell us when the 30 seconds were up. If you hadn’t noticed, we were a bit busy to be watching clocks!” Gavin retorted; irritation still laced through his voice.

 

“Do you know that’s what he was thinking? Because if he fancies you that much then chances are he was just holding on for each second more.”

 

“Oh don’t you tell me I don’t know what he’s thinking and then read shit into his thoughts yourself. I’ve. Done. Nothing. Wrong.” Gavin stood up and stormed out of the great hall. This was really great wasn’t it? Bloody Geoff. Suddenly being made to kiss Michael was his fault.

 

Before he really knew where his feet were carrying him Gavin had walked out of the castle and strolled down into the grounds. He was in view of the quidditch pitch and stopped as he saw Michael’s familiar figure swoop up into sight and then back below the stands again. This had blown up into a problem he hadn’t even conceived as possible yesterday. He walked round to by the greenhouses and found a bench to sit on; far enough away he didn’t think Michael would see him.

 

Gavin’s head dropped into his hands, trying to wrap his mind around the concept that Michael fancied him. It was such a shock to him and yet, if he was willing to admit it to himself, he could see how that would work. I mean, since summer Michael had been especially close with him. Now he thought about it in hindsight, he had noticed Michael looking at him a lot more. And Michael finding time for the two of them to be alone together. And Michael smiling at him far more fondly than he ever had before. And Michael’s eyes on him whenever he’d been in any state of undress…

 

Which set off a whole other chain of thought. It was one thing to acknowledge that Michael wanted to hold his hand and go on dates and be generally romantic with him. It was a whole other thing to think about Michael actually wanting him sexually. Like, wanting to get naked and have sex with him. It was another thing Gavin was struggling to process. On the surface, it was very flattering to know someone wanted to sleep with him. It made him feel, well, sexy. But thinking about Michael? That was odd. Even just imagining him naked…

 

Well Gavin would admit to being curious. He’d seen Michael in just his boxers pretty often so there wasn’t much left to imagine. Or maybe there was a lot left to imagine. That he would admit to being curious about. But he even felt kinda weird just thinking about it. Just trying to imagine Michael naked left an odd feeling in his gut, he felt almost guilty for trying to think about it but he couldn’t place why.

 

He still hadn’t tried to process his own reactions any more than the night before. Though imagining Michael naked felt weird he couldn’t deny how turned on he’d been when Michael had kissed him. Trying to imagine sex or a relationship with his best friend might be too much to process but that kiss? Gavin knew that he had enjoyed kissing Michael. And would probably be willing to enjoy it again. Which was a start, Gavin could at least now say definitely that he wasn’t completely straight. Which was a big enough bombshell that he could call it quits for one day in terms of self-analysis.

 

His only worry was that if he didn’t get this sorted it might affect his relationship with Michael _. I mean, there’s no reason why it should, we could theoretically ignore it and get on with being friends, but now that I know how he feels about me and that it probably meant something to him it feels wrong just ignoring it. If he’s hurting I want to help, he is my best friend. I can’t stand to think about him hurting…_

 

Gavin’s inner monologue was interrupted by Professor Longbottom trotting by to open up the nearest greenhouse. Gavin looked back over to the pitch and Michael’s figure was no longer flying round. With a sigh, Gavin stood and wandered back to the castle, hoping he’d be able to get his twisted head back in order.


	5. Chapter 5

He got back to the common room to see Michael sat in the corner with Lindsay. He was slumped forwards, staring at the table in front, looking downright sad. Gavin didn’t know what to do or how to help, so he just walked through into their dorm in the hope that if Michael wanted to talk about anything he’d come to him. Not that Gavin would see why he would. Michael was unaware Gavin now knew his feelings, from Michael’s point of view nothing had changed.

 

Michael didn’t come into the dorm, and Gavin next saw him when he trundled down to the quidditch pitch for 5pm training. Gavin gave his usual “Hi Michael!” but Michael completely ignored him, walking out of the changing room to the pitch. Gavin frowned, offended and a little hurt by the cold shoulder. He couldn’t see why he deserved it. Unless everyone shared in Geoff’s madness and believed this all to be his fault.

 

Michael walked onto the pitch and stood with Lindsay, immediately feeling bad for ignoring his best friend. After all, it wasn’t really Gavin’s fault that he was having a meltdown, even if Gavin was unknowingly causing it. Lindsay had convinced him that after the night before he really should admit to Gavin his feelings, and the fear that something would go wrong and that he would lose Gavin as a friend was driving him insane. He didn’t usually fear rejection but the idea that something could damage his and Gavin’s close bond was scary, he valued his best friend more than anything he could remember. All the uncertainty wound him up, and he was pissed with himself for not being able to be cool about the whole thing.

 

He was trying not to take it out on Gavin, but that was very hard.

 

It was clear to everyone that Gavin and Michael weren’t operating on their usual level that training session. Gavin initially tried to be friendly, but Michael was cold and only spoke to Gavin when he had to. They could still read each other on the field fairly well, so they didn’t need to directly communicate much. And they didn’t. The usual laughing and joking was absent as Gavin quickly realised Michael wasn’t going to respond. Gavin joked with the rest of the team as usual, but Michael was mostly quiet and very frustrated.

 

He was also a lot angrier than usual, swearing whenever anything didn’t go well and constantly muttering curses under his breath. When Gavin dropped the ball, he lost it.

 

“Why can’t you just catch the goddamn ball? You stupid fuck! I am one hundred percent fucking done with you and your bullshit!” Michael screamed at him, red faced.

 

The whole team went silent with shock, staring between Michael and Gavin. Gavin stared at Michael for a few seconds, cool spite settling in his stomach, before turning and walking off the pitch.

 

Michael buried his head in his hands, trying to calm down. When he realised the rest of the team was still staring at him, he swore loudly and flew off, flying out over the lake where he could have some time to calm down away from anyone, and where he could scream with frustration if he needed to.

 

Gavin methodically changed and walked back up to the castle. He put his stuff away and walked down to dinner, thoughts whirring while he moved. Michael might have feelings for him, but that in no way gave him license to be such an ass. Gavin hadn’t done anything to him, and yet he’d been avoided, cold shouldered and then shouted at. He didn’t deserve any of that, and the frustration was almost tangible. He was cold, hungry, tired, angry, hurt and still feeling goddamn horny from the night before.

 

After wolfing down his dinner, before the rest of the team could finish up and find him, he went for a walk in the evening air. It was mostly dark so he stayed within a stone’s throw of the castle, moving round to the rear courtyard often used for multiple houses to hang out. He milled around for a while, chatting to some mutual friends, and when a very attractive Slytherin girl with purple hair began to talk to him, be decided he needed an outlet for his sexual frustration after all.

 

* * *

 

 

Michael flew around for well over an hour, over woods and hills stretching further and further from the castle, until he decided he should probably go back and face the music. He felt like utter shit for taking his frustrations out on Gavin. He knew Gavin didn’t deserve any of it and hated himself for not being able to just deal with this calmly. It was his own twisted fears that had made him drive Gavin away, and he needed to go and apologise for it, no matter how much he dreaded doing so. He also needed to go and apologise to the team for causing such a scene. They had a match at the end of next week for fucks’ sake.

 

As he flew back towards the castle he saw the rest of the team walking up to the castle, way past the time practise should have ended. With a pang of guilt Michael realised they must have tried waiting for him to return. To avoid having to face them he fell back and did a loop round the castle. Flying low and staying away from widows he made his way round past the rear courtyard and almost fell out of the air.

 

Gavin was sat on a bench over by the back wall, wrapped round and locking mouths with a very attractive Slytherin girl from the year above. She was gorgeous, but as Michael stared he thought Gavin looked gorgeous too, all dishevelled and sexy as he ran one hand down to her waist and pulled her close. He certainly looked like he knew how to kiss, and Michael briefly wondered how he and Gavin had looked the other night before the emotion hit him.

 

Michael felt the tears burning in his eyes first, quickly followed by the urge to scream and/or vomit. He whirled himself away and flew full speed back to the pitch as the jealously and fresh waves of rage began to kick him in the gut. Though logic told him it wasn’t right he instantly hated that whore for touching Gavin. But he couldn’t bring himself to be mad at Gavin himself. He just felt sadness and rejection seeing his best friend so happily making out with someone else. It wasn’t fair, he thought as he fell onto the pitch, rolling off his broom and screaming as he punched the ground with one fist.

 

How was he supposed to tell Gavin how he felt now? He’d known all along Gavin was straight but seeing him so happy with someone else put Michael off telling him his own feelings. If Gavin was about to develop a happy relationship he didn’t want to throw a spanner into it. He did after all just want Gavin to be happy. So he guessed he’d just have to suffer in silence and deal with the jealously. After all, Michael convinced himself, it wasn’t like he’d ever have a chance with Gavin.

 

He changed and walked back to the castle, swallowing his guilt and going and sitting with the team. As he approached the Hufflepuff table Jack looked up, and all the other heads turned to follow. Michael walked awkwardly up to his friends and sighed.

 

“I’m sorry.” He blurted out. “I’m sorry for disrupting practise and I’m sorry for causing so much awkwardness in the team.”

 

“As much as we appreciate that apology Michael, it’s Gavin you need to apologise to.” Ryan said quietly. Michael sighed.

 

“I know I do. I don’t know how to word it yet but I know I need to.”

 

“Sit down you dickhead, you’re causing a scene.” Geoff said calmly, and Michael was dragged down between Lindsay and Ray.

 

“Have you guys seen him?” Michael asked quietly.

 

“Nah, Gav’d gone by the time we got back in here.” Lindsay replied.

 

“He’ll be alright.” Geoff said. “He’s a bit impulsive when he’s upset but he’s predictable enough. Gavin’ll be alright after some time to cool down. When he’s back to his cheery self he’ll be ready to accept an apology. Which I don’t think will take any more than a day at the most.”

 

“Thanks guys.” Michael smiled and went to grab a plate of food, before he could Geoff cut in.

 

“One more thing. Michael when you speak to him just… be honest with him about how you feel.”

 

“About how I fee-“ Michael stopped and saw five faces staring at him eagerly. “You all know. You all know. Lindsay I swear I am going to murde-“

 

“Michael, Lindsay didn’t tell us anything. We have eyes.” Ryan cut in curtly, and Michael was visibly trying to reign in another wave of emotions.

 

“So it’s been obvious. All this time.” He groaned.

 

“No just the past couple of weeks really.” Ray responded honestly. “And definitely after last night.”

 

“Honestly it’s not much of a surprise. You’ve always been very close.” Jack added.

 

“We won’t say anything. I know you and Gav’ll work it out in your own time.” Lindsay smiled and placed a hand on Michael’s arm supportively. He gave her a smile and turned to eat, thankful he could trust the team.


	6. Chapter 6

Gavin didn’t go back to her dorm. Meg had been lovely and certainly very attractive, but Gavin knew she deserved something more than being used to relieve sexual tension. And honestly, an evening making out with a hot girl had relieved a lot of Gavin’s tension, the rest dealt with later in the bathroom with his left hand.

Though his sexual frustration had been somewhat relieved, Gavin was still hurt by his best friend’s actions. He was angry that Michael would treat him so poorly; and yet felt weirdly guilty that he wasn’t doing anything to help his best friend. Gavin cared an awful lot for Michael Jones, and it made him quite upset to know his friend was hurting.

He went and got ready for bed, climbing in under the rich bed-covers and pulling out a book. After a while Michael stumbled into the room, and when he saw Gavin he froze like a rabbit in the headlights. Gavin stared at him for a couple of seconds before pointedly returning to his book, ignoring his friend’s movements.

When Michael moved round to Gavin’s side of his bed, Gavin closed the book and lay down, turning away from Michael. He wasn’t sure he was ready to deal with this now and was willing his friend to just get ready for bed and either sleep or go away. The movement stopped and Gavin desperately hoped Michael had gotten into bed, knowing that if his friend tried to talk to him now he’d be super irritated.

Sure enough after a moment a soft “Gavin” broke the air, and Gavin was too busy snapping out a “What?” in reply to hear the crack in his friend’s voice.

“I’m sorry.” Came a sob from behind him, and Gavin froze as he realised Michael was crying. Michael. Crying. Gavin had lived with him four-and-a-bit years and this was the second or third time he’d ever seen Michael cry, and certainly not since first year.

He turned over slowly. “Michael. Are you okay?” his anger forgotten, concern laced the lad’s voice as he saw his curly haired friend getting choked up.

“I’m sorry. I’m really really sorry Gavin. I’m such a fucking asshole. I should never have taken it out on you.”

“I- uh, thanks for the apology.” Gavin paused. “Taken what out on me Michael?”

“Oh. I uh, I mean, I just-“ Michael stopped for a minute and took a deep breath. “Please don’t laugh at me Gavin. Or turn me away. Please don’t turn me away.”

Gavin pulled himself up and out of bed, walking over to stand in front of Michael where he sat on the bed.

“What is it boi?” He asked, brow furrowed with concern.

“Just promise me you won’t turn me away.” Michael’s voice was strained.

“Okay. I promise.” Gavin replied, trying to keep his voice calm. 

“I’m gay.” Michael blurted out.

Gavin smiled, trying to look as encouraging and supportive as possible. “Why would I turn you away for that? You’re my boi.”

“That’s just the fucking thing. I think. I think I like you. As in, I think I really fucking like you as more than just a friend.” He rushed over the words and brought his hands up to cover his face, starting to get angry and frustrated again at his inability to articulate. “And I know you don’t feel the same way and that’s okay but it’s been really hard to adjust to all this-“

“Michael.” Gavin cut him off firmly. He took one of Michael’s hands and very firmly pressed a kiss to the back of it, silencing his friend with shock so he could have a chance to speak. Since speaking with Geoff Gavin had had an idea this conversation might be approaching, and he’d mulled over some of the things he might say.

“Michael I really really like you too; but I don’t know how much, or where the line is.” He paused, and considered his phrasing. “I do know a few things though. I don’t think I’m completely straight either. I’ve honestly never considered dudes as an option before but that might be changing. I also know that I want what will make you happy, because you are my boi and seeing you happy makes me feel happy. I know that seeing you upset makes me sad and all I want to do is to hug you right now. And… and I know that I really enjoyed kissing you and would be willing to kiss you more.”

Michael was speechless, though he was still emitting sniffles as he tried to regain his breathing. After a moment he went to pull Gavin into a hug, sliding forwards off the bed to where Gavin was kneeling on the floor and melting into him as they wrapped their arms around each other. Gavin could feel that Michael was still shaking slightly and stroked a hand soothingly up and down his arm until his hands stilled and his breathing returned to normal.

“Thank you.” Michael mumbled into Gavin’s shoulder, and Gavin gave him a squeeze before pulling away and smiling.

“That’s alright my boi.”

Michael looked up, face level with and quite close to Gavin’s. He saw nothing but acceptance and love in Gav’s eyes and it meant so much to him he felt his heart was bursting. Without really thinking about it he leant in for their third kiss.

It was soft and it was slow, but it was sure; lips firm and steady. As the two boys sat with their mouths locked on the dorm room floor, a sense of peace fell over the room as the frustrations of the past few days ironed out. Michael brought a hand up to Gavin’s neck and his partner ran his fingers soothingly over Michael’s other hand but things didn’t progress or heat up. The kisses were steady and warm, and as they came to an end the boys rested their foreheads together.

“So that just happened.” Gavin murmured, and Michael gave a breathy laugh.

“Yeah. I suppose did.”

“We’ll have to do that again sometime. But I’m like; reeaallly tired right now and might have to postpone doing it again in favour of sleep.” Gavin brushed a hand over Michael’s arm reassuringly before pulling himself upright, turning and getting into bed. 

“Mmmph.” Michael replied eloquently as he pulled himself up and into bed, snuggling into the covers and looking across at his best friend. Gavin was cocooned in duvet opposite him, giving him a shit-eating grin across the beds. 

“Night Micoooo.” He crooned, deliberately drawing out the other boy’s name.

“Goodnight Gav.” Michael replied softly and fondly, before letting sleep take him.


End file.
